A Journey of Love
by abbyl
Summary: A Charlie/Angelo/Ruby story starting from 2010 season opener, lots of drama and romance
1. Chapter 1

A Journey of Love

Disclaimer - I own nothing

Summary - A Changelo story starting from the beginning of 2010, but I have changed the events to suit my story!!

**Chapter One - A Fight for Survival**

Charlie stirred and tried to open her eyes. She blinked a couple of times when met with a fuzzy outlook, but eventually her vision returned to normal.  
Charlie could not work out where she was. All she knew was that her head was thumping. Hugo. His name flashed at her and she remembered what had happened. Charlie tried to sit up, but realised her legs and wrists were tied up. Charlie looked around her and realised she was on a boat. She looked to her right and saw Hugo driving the boat.

"Hugo! What the hell do you think you are doing? You need to let me go Hugo, kidnapping a police officer is not a good idea"

"Charlie, shut up"

"Hugo, what has happened to you? All this time Angelo has had his suspicions that you were involved in all this people smuggling, but stupidly I stuck up for you. I couldn't believe that you could be involved. But I was wrong wasn't I?"

"Charlie, I'm warning you, if you don't shut up, I might do something I'll live to regret" Hugo pulled a gun out and pointed it towards Charlie.

"Ok, I'll shut up, but only for now. If you think you are going to get away with this you have got another thing coming"

Charlie closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. She didn't want to show Hugo how frightened she was, give him the satisfaction of knowing he was really getting to her. Charlie was trained for situations like this, but she was struggling to cope with it. Thoughts of Ruby kept swimming around her head. It was only a few hours ago at the Surf Club Christmas party, that they had shared a hug and Charlie had seen that their relationship was slowly healing. It had been a tough few months, and Charlie had almost lost hope that life would ever be good again. With Ruby slowly coming round to the idea that Charlie was her mother, and Angelo becoming an important part of her life, Charlie started to believe things were changing for the better.

As the engine ground to a halt, Charlie opened her eyes and saw Hugo staring at her. She could feel her shoulders starting to tremble, and tears started to form in her eyes. Hugo began to walk down the stairs towards Charlie.

"I never wanted this to happen Charlie. I like you. But you couldn't resist getting your nose stuck in could you?"

"I'm a police officer, what did you expect me to do? Ignore it? All I can be thankful is that I found those refugees in time. That's if anyone comes to their rescue, since I'm assuming you just left them there to die?"

"Charlie, you are so self righteous. I'm not even going to begin to explain my role in this, other than to say I wanted to get out of this. I didn't want to be a part of it. I love Martha, and I don't want her harmed"

"Then why didn't you come to us? We could have protected Martha"

"Charlie, no amount of police protection would have stopped Suzy. Why the hell do you think I'm out here with you?"

Charlie ducked as Hugo started to wave his gun around in anger. He knelt down beside her and started to untie the rope around her ankles. Once that was undone, he untied her wrists. Charlie instinctively rubbed the area where the ropes had burnt into her skin. Hugo pointed the gun at Charlie.

"Get up"

Charlie pulled herself up. She still felt dizzy from the earlier blow to her head, but she knew she had to stay strong for a little while longer if she was going to get herself out of this.

"What are you going to do? Shoot me and toss me into the water? And then what?"

"You are not going to talk yourself out of this one Charlie so I wouldn't waste your breath. Get into the water"

"What the hell are you talking about? Why?"

"I'm not going to kill you Charlie. I want you to get in the water, and swim to that Island. Once I am safely away, I'll let the authrities know where you are. This should keep you going for a day" Hugo thrust a bottle of water into Charlie's hands.

"Hugo, you don't have to do this. Turn yourself in, the police will be more lenient if you do that, and you can still have a life with Martha"

"I told you, I am not going to bargain with you Charlie. Either you get in, or I shoot you, it's your choice"

Charlie took off her boots, whilst trying to think of a plan quickly. She threw the bottle of water overboard, and prepared to jump in. Hugo watched as Charlie slipped on the side of the boat, and landed on the floor with a crash.

"Nice try Charlie, get up!" Hugo shouted, and got no response.

"Get up Charlie, or I'll shoot you" No response.

"Charlie? Charlie?" Hugo knelt down beside Charlie, after removing his gun to a safe distance. He knelt down to listen for Charlie's breathing and cursed when he could not hear anything.

"Charlie, it's not supposed to end this way" Hugo prepared to do mouth to mouth when Charlie reached out to grab his gun. It was not there.

"Oh, so it _was_ a little trick. Nice one Charlie, shame it didn't quite work though" Hugo hauled Charlie up to her feet then picked her up. He threw her overboard into the water. Charlie let out a scream as she hit the ice cold water. She felt herself go under, and struggled to move to the surface. Once at the surface, Charlie could see Hugo starting up the engine on the boat.

"HUGO! Don't do this! Don't leave me here, I'm begging you" Charlie shouted, tears running down her face, the adrenaline from trying to outsmart Hugo was slowly disappearing. Charlie watched the boat start to pull away, and started to focus on the task ahead. She could either fight for survival, or give in to the temptation of the sea. She chose survival.


	2. Time Will Tell

**Chapter 2 - Time Will Tell.**

Charlie watched as Hugo's boat disappeared into the distance. The water was freezing and her legs already felt like seizing up just by treading water.  
Charlie turned around in the water to face her task. The Island called to her, she didn't know how long it was going to take her to swim, but she hoped that her strength and determination to survive would mean she would make it. She had to, for Ruby. Charlie drew in a deep breath and started to swim.

**Three hours Later**

**Yabbee Creek Police Station.**

Angelo had arrived back at the station from leaving Martha at the hospital. It had been a long night. Derrick had kidnapped Martha, and Angelo had finally been able to rescue her, whilst getting shot at, resulting in a bad graze to his head. One of Angelo's undercover counterparts had released Derrick the night before in the hope that he would lead the police to the person behind the people smuggling, but instead of that, he had kidnapped Martha, and Angelo's main suspect, Hugo, was still on the loose.

"Has anyone seen Charlie lately?" Angelo asked, realising he had not spoken to his girlfriend all night. She had no idea what he had been through.

"No, we were wondering the same thing" Watson replied.

"What do you mean?" Angelo frowned.

"She went over to the Wharf last night to follow up some leads in the smuggling case. We haven't heard from her since then - we assumed she went home and would report back in the morning, since she wasn't officially on duty"

"And no-one has heard from her at all? Did you not think to try ringing her?"

"We left a message on her mobile. Like I said, she wasn't on duty, so she didn't have to report back"

"This is Constable Buckton we are talking about here, she wouldn't do that" Angelo dialled Charlie's mobile number, but frowned again as the voicemail kicked in. He then tried Charlie's house.

"Hey Leah, it's Angelo. Is Charlie there?"

"No, I thought she was at the station, I haven't seen her since she left the christmas party last night"

"Ok Thanks Leah. Can you get her to ring me if she turns up?"

"Sure. Bye"

Angelo hung up the phone, worry etched on his face. Something wasn't quite right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He was interrupted by one of the other officers.

"Constable Rosetta, there is an anonymous male on the phone asking to speak to you"

"Ok, put him through" Angelo replied, frowning as he picked up the handset.

"Angelo, how lovely to speak to you, although I suppose you are the appropriate person to deal with a little problem I have"

"Hugo. I wondered where you had got to. I need you to come down to the station. I have a couple of questions I would like answered"

"That might be difficult seeing as I am no longer in the Bay. I thought you might like to know that I bumped into Charlie last night, at the Wharf"

"Hugo, where is she? Have you done something to her?"

"Lets see. She unfortunately uncovered my little secret down at the Wharf last night. By the way you better get some medical help down there. Charlie suffered a small head injury, and then I took her for a little ride on my boat. As you can probably guess, Charlie wasn't very happy when she came to, and started making demands. I couldn't listen to her anymore, so as of now, she's swimming. Lets hope she's a tough swimmer, the water's a bit choppy today"

"You tell me where the hell you have left her or I swear you will live to regret it"

"If I were you, if you want to see Charlie safe and well, I would stop the threats Angelo"

Angelo tried to calm his anger and listened as Hugo explained exactly where he had left Charlie. Once off the phone, Angelo phoned the police helicopter to sweep the area, to try and locate Charlie. Once the rescue plan was initiated, all Angelo could do was wait. He had never been very patient, but this was going to be one of the longest waits of his life. Charlie's situation sounded critical, if help didn't reach her soon, it could be too late.

**Four Hours Later.**

After what seemed like eternity, Charlie reached the shore of the Island. She staggered out of the water and collapsed onto the warm sand. Breathing heavily, Charlie was aware that she was not out of danger. Perhaps the hardest part of survival was now to begin. All she could hope was that Hugo had now alerted her colleagues to her dilemma, and that they were now looking for her. As the exhaustion waved over her, and the thumping in her head got heavier, Charlie closed her eyes and drifted away. After a while, she wasn't sure whether the darkness coming over her was a bad dream, or whether she was following the path to death. Only time would tell.


	3. Happy Now?

Disclaimer - I Own Nothing

Chapter Three - Happy Now?

Charlie felt warm and comfortable, which was strange really considering she was lying on a beach. She shifted position, and realised that she was no longer on the beach, but lying in a bed. Charlie sat bolt upright, her heart pounding in her chest, and looked around the room with panicked eyes, trying to figure out where she was. As she scanned the room, she saw a man sitting asleep in a chair. Charlie lowered herself back down against the pillows, her heart rate slowly returning to normal, and smiled as she stared at Angelo. He was snoring. Charlie didn't know how she had got to the hospital, or how long she had been there, but felt immediate relief at being back in Summer Bay. Charlie thought about waking Angelo, but decided to watch him sleep instead. This did not last long however, as the door opened and Rachel walked in. Angelo shot up out of his chair, the noise disturbing him from his slumber, but he noticed Rachel smiling. He followed her gaze and realised Charlie was awake. He rushed over to her side and took hold of her hand.

"Hey baby, how are you feeling? We've all been so worried about you" Angelo said, planting a gentle kiss on Charlie's nose.  
"Hey. I've got a bit of a headache, and I feel exhausted. How did I get here? How long have I been here?" Charlie looked at Rachel with worried eyes.

"Charlie, you need to keep calm. You have been here for 3 days. You were unconscious when you arrived and this is the first time you have woken up. You have a fractured skull, which will explain the headache, but this will heal by itself. No other physical injuries, other than exhaustion, which will get better with lots of rest. You have had everyone very worried, especially Ruby"

"Is she ok? Where is she?"

"She's fine. She wouldn't leave your side for the first 2 days, but I finally persuaded her to go home last night. I'll go and phone her and let her know you're awake"

"Thanks Angelo" Charlie smiled as he left the room.

"You know he hasn't left your side either. No-one could persuade him to go home and get some rest" Rachel informed Charlie.

"I'm very lucky. How long do I have to stay here?" Charlie replied.

"I would like to keep you in for a couple of days, just to keep an eye on you. I don't expect there to be any problems, but I want you to rest, and the only way I can be certain you will rest is to keep you in. How do you feel?"

"My head does hurt........" Charlie trailed off as she remembered Hugo hitting her over the head with his gun. Her breathing became rapid, and colour drained from her face.

"Charlie, stay with me" Rachel said loudly to get Charlies attention. Charlie looked at Rachel and started to calm down again, realising she was safe.

"I'm sorry, I was just remembering what happened" Charlie said shakily.

"Hey, it is completely normal for you to feel like this, and to be honest it probably won't be the first time. All I ask is that you don't bottle things up. Make sure you talk to someone about how you are feeling, don't struggle with it on your own" As Rachel was finishing talking, Angelo came back into the room. He took one look at Charlie and knew something was wrong.

"What's going on? Are you ok Charlie?"

"Charlie just had a small panic attack about what happened to her. She's fine now, but I have told her to make sure she talks to us about what she is feeling. I am going to get you some pain relief Charlie, and then I want you to get some more rest"

"Thanks Rachel. I do feel quite tired again"

Rachel left the room to get the pain relief. Angelo sat next to Charlie on the bed, and stroked her hair.

"Did you get through to Ruby?" Chalie asked, followed by a long yawn.

"Yes, she was very excited. She's coming right over"

"Thank-you for being here, I'm sure you have been a good support to Ruby too, which means a lot"

"I'd do anything for you Charlie, I thought I'd lost you. I love you"

"I'm not going anywhere. I love you too"

Rachel entered the room.

"Here, these should help with the headache, then I want you to rest. I'm sure I can count on you Angelo to make sure that happens"

Charlie swallowed down the pills, enjoying the cool water rinsing round her dry mouth.

"I don't think that will be a problem, I feel exhausted again. I don't know how I can be, I've slept for 3 days" Charlie looked worried again.

"Charlie, you have been through a huge trauma, it will take you a while to feel 'normal' again. Now sleep!" Rachel smiled sympathetically at Charlie. It did feel strange watching the normally strong police officer that Charlie was looking so vunerable. Rachel slipped out of the room.

Angelo stayed on the bed stroking Charlie's hair as she slipped off into a deep sleep. He noticed that she looked more peaceful than before, and he smiled to himself. Perhaps this was the beginning of a new chapter for them, a happy one. He kissed Charlie on the head and then sat back in the chair to watch her sleep.


End file.
